Corey's Green Bean Casserole

Corey's Green Bean Casserole

This is my variation of the holiday favorite.  We made this last year for Thanksgiving and I am only finally posting it now.  I adapted this from the "official" recipes on the Campbell's Kitchen site and French's (the people that make the great French Fried onions.  This is simple and a great addition to any holiday meal.

Ingredients (serves 6 - The above picture is a double portion)

1 10 3/4 oz can Condensed cream of mushroom Soup
1/2 cup Skim milk
1/4 tsp Black pepper
4 cups Green beans, frozen
1 1/2 cup French fried onions

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.
2. Mix the soup, milk, black pepper, beans and half the fried onions in a casserole.
3. Bake for 40 minutes and then stir the bean mixture.
4. Sprinkle the remaining onions atop the mixture and cook for 5-10 minutes more (until golden brown).

Enjoy!

Sauteed Carrots with Sage

Sauteed Carrots with Sage

   

 This is another side that I am going to make a staple in our Thanksgiving dinner. This is a very easy side, but very tasty. It works great for any big meal, like Thanksgiving, Christmas or Easter. This was adapted from a recipe from Cooking Light.

Ingredients (for 8 servings)
2 tbsp Butter
2 tbsp Olive oil
2 cups Carrot, sliced diagonally (or baby cut carrots cut in half longwise)
4 tbsp Water
1/2 tsp Kosher salt
1/2 tsp Black pepper
1/2 tsp Sage, dried

Directions
1. Melt butter in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. 
2. Add oil to pan; swirl to coat. Then add carrots and water. Partially cover pan and cook 10 minutes or until carrots are almost tender. 
3. Add kosher salt, black pepper and dried sage to the pan.  Increase the heat to medium-high and cook 4-6 additional minutes or until carrots are tender and lightly browned, stirring frequently.

Enjoy as a great side with meals.

Salmon with Ginger-Soy Butter

Salmon with Ginger-Soy Butter  

 This is a really nice and very easy recipe for salmon that was adapted from one I found at Prevention. I have not done a lot with butter sauces - but I am hoping to do more in the future. I really loved the way this turned out. 

Ingredients (serves 3-4)
1 1/2 tbsp Unsalted butter, softened (try to get two hours at room temperature)
1 tsp Grated ginger
1 tbsp Lemon juice
1 tbsp Soy sauce
1 tbsp Olive oil
3-4 salmon fillets (4-6 oz each)
1/4 tsp Kosher salt
1/4 tsp Black pepper
1 tbsp Olive oil

Directions
1. Mix the butter, ginger, lemon juice, and soy sauce until well blended. Set aside.
2. Preheat olive oil in a pan over medium-high heat. 
3. Season the salmon with salt and pepper and rub with the oil. 
4. Add salmon to the pan (skin side down) and cook for 4 to 5 minutes.  Turn the salmon and cook for 3-4 minutes on the other side.  
5. When the salmon is removed from the pan, place a spoonful of the flavored butter (along with any additional liquids that did not blend).

Enjoy!

Slow Cooker Sweet Potatoes & Cranberries

Slow Cooker Sweet Potatoes & Cranberries


So this recipe has been sitting on my flickr photostream without a recipe for...well a full year.  So I wanted to get this down and shared because it was fantastic and super easy.  We are going make this again for Thanksgiving.  I love the fact that it takes just a few minutes to get rolling and it will cook all day without using a burner.  What a great meal that is perfect for Thanksgiving - but really nice with any winter meal.  Definitely will be a family favorite.  This was adapted from the recipe for Crock Pot Sweet Potatoes & Cranberries With Toasted Pecans from Food.com.

Ingredients
4 Sweet potatoes, peeled and diced into 1/2" slices
3/4 cup Cranberries, fresh
1 Apple, peeled & cut into 1/4" slices
1 tsp Cinnamon
1/4 tsp Nutmeg
2/3 cup Brown sugar
1/2 cup Apple cider

Directions

1. Combine all ingredients in the slow cooker in the order that they are listed in recipe.
2. Cook on LOW setting for 7-9 hours (until the sweet potatoes are tender).

Enjoy!

Chicken and Mushrooms with a Light Wine Sauce

Chicken and Mushrooms with a Light Wine Sauce

The more and more I have been cooking, the more and more I enjoy it.  I am not sure where I was on my travels - but I wrote the basics of this recipe down on my small notebook.  So unlike many of my other recipes - this was born in my head!  That is really cool...if I do say so myself!  I love the idea of generating a recipe from scratch - and what a recipe.  We made it for the first time tonight and it was great.  We used green beans, but you could use just about any green vegetable to go with the mushrooms.  This was a winner and we will definitely make it again.

Ingredients
3 tbsp Olive oil, divided
4 Chicken breasts, skinless
1/2 tsp Kosher salt
1/2 tsp Black Pepper
1 medium Onion, sliced thin
2 tsp Garlic, chopped (or cloved)
12 oz Mushrooms, sliced in half with stems removed1 tsp Thyme, dried
1/2 lbs Green beans, trimmed no longer than 2 inches long
3/4 cup Chicken broth
3/4 cup White wine, dry
Olive oil spray or Cooking spray

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. Add 1 tbsp oil to pan over medium-high heat.
3. Season both sides of chicken breasts with 1/4 tsp kosher salt and 1/4 tsp black pepper.
4. Cook chicken for 4-5 minutes per side, remove from heat and put in an oven ready casserole with a light coating of cooking spray on the bottom.  Cook chicken in oven for 17-19 minutes at 375 degrees.
5. Meanwhile, in the same pan, lower the heat to medium and add 1 tbsp olive oil.  Add onions, garlic, remaining 1/4 tsp kosher salt and 1/4 tsp pepper to the pan and saute for 4-5 minutes.
6. Add mushrooms, green beans & thyme and saute for 5 minutes
7. Add chicken broth and white wine to the mixture and cook for an additional 5-7 minutes.
8. Pour mushroom mixture over chicken and serve.

Enjoy!

Roasted Green Beans and Potatoes

I keep playing with this recipe for Fingerling Potatoes and we have another to share out with the world. We worked in green beans in the mix and they came out great. If you do not have Fingerling Potatoes, you can use fancy red-skinned potatoes that are cut into wedges. That should work just fine and will help reduce the cost a bit. These are great as a side dish and are surprisingly easy for something that looks a bit fussy!

Ingredients (Serves 4-6):
2 tbsp Olive oil
2 tsp Rosemary, dried
1/2 tsp Kosher salt
1/2 tsp Black pepper
1/2 tsp Thyme, dried
1 Onion (medium), thinly sliced
1 1/2 lbs Fingerling potatoes, halved lengthwise
3/4 lbs Green beans, ends snipped
Cooking spray or olive oil spray

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 425°.
2. Combine olive oil, rosemary, kosher salt, black pepper, thyme onions, and potatoes in a large bowl, tossing to coat.
3. Lightly coat a jelly-roll pan with cooking spray or olive oil spray. Arrange potato mixture on the pan.
4. Bake for 13 minutes. Then add green beans and toss with the potatoes in the pan. Cook for 15 more minutes.

Enjoy as a great side dish!

Favorite Pork Chops

I have had this recipe in my pile of notes to put on the web forever...or around 8 months to be exact. I made these pork chops a bit differently and loved the way they came out. Well, We are having everyone over for dinner tonight, so I thought it would be to finally record this recipe and print it up so I can use it tonight. The recipe was very loosely adapted from  Martha Stewart's Pork Chops with Red-Wine Sauce. The first thing you might ask...uhm...where did the sauce go. I did not use it. Its gone. But it is great. The chops are moist and are wonderful without a sauce. This is a great dish if you like pork and one we are going to make again and again.

Ingredients (Serves 4):
2/3 cup Flour (all-purpose)
2 tsp Kosher salt
1 tsp Black pepper
2 tsp Rosemary (dried)
1/2 tsp Sage (dried)
2-3 tbsp Olive oil plus cooking spray
8 Pork chops or loin chops (around 2 lbs - and 1/2" thick)

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
2. Mix together flour, kosher salt, black pepper, rosemary and sage in a bowl. Sprinkle on both sides of the pork chops.
3. Lightly spray (with cooking spray or olive oil) the bottom of a jelly roll pan and set aside.
4. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add pork chops and cook for 2-3 minutes per side. When both sides are cooked, move the chops to the jelly roll pan and then cook remaining pork (as necessary).
5. Place the jelly roll pan with the pork chops into the oven and cook for 15 more minutes until done.

Enjoy!